Meetings

February Meeting Recap: Captain Bailey and Taking It To The Streets

Despite a move from the Park Branch Library to the Bindery due to a mix-up with the library key, February’s HANC meeting was well attended.

Park Police Station Captain Una Bailey introduced herself. She grew up in Ireland, and has been with the San Francisco Police Department since 2001. She had been captain of the Special Victims Unit until she was assigned to be captain of Park Station this past October.

Captain Bailey distributed crime statistics for the Park Police District, which show that we are one of the safest districts in the City, and that crime has been going down. Captain Bailey wants to be responsive to the community, and asked that we communicate our concerns. Park Station holds a community meeting the second Tuesday of each month, from 7 to 8 pm.

Christian Calinsky spoke about Taking It To The Streets. Since it began in 2014, Taking It To The Streets has provided housing for over 300 homeless young people. But it goes beyond housing. Taking It to the Streets also helps youth with other needs—job training, education, health needs, counseling. Some of the young people who are part of Taking It to the Streets were at the meeting, and spoke of their experiences.

Both Christian Calinsky and Captain Bailey (and many others, including Police Chief William Scott, Supervisor London Breed, and Jeff Kositsky, Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing) were at another meeting, this one at the Park Police Station on February 24, organized by Captain Bailey and Supervisor Breed. There had been a shooting and carjacking in the Panhandle on February 16, and in a separate incident six days later, three young men were found dead on Page Street, near Urban School. Captain Bailey repeated that the Haight Ashbury is still a safe neighborhood, and guns are rare here. The suspect in the shooting and carjacking has been arrested and had also been involved in a 2015 shooting by the McDonald’s (although he was not the shooter in that incident). The three young men had apparently smoked drugs tainted with fentanyl. The meeting overflowed the meeting room at Park Station. Community members were given a chance to speak.

During the meeting, Calvin Welch, former HANC Board member, advocated for use of the existing building by homeless youth while the planning process continues. We were told that McDonald’s insisted that the building be torn down within 90 days of the sale as a condition of the sale. We were also told that the gun used in the Panhandle incident was not stolen, and that Urban School was not involved or associated with the deaths at its location. The City is proceeding with its plans for safe consumption sites, which will hopefully prevent future overdose deaths.